The HOT Rod
by Berlioz II
Summary: Tomo discovers something new about Kaorin. Could this something result in... love?


_Well, I just had an idea for this and decided to go ahead and write it. I will not preface this story on what will happen, but I__'__d be interested to know if I made my big twist too obvious. Please tell me if you guessed too soon._

_2nd Improved Edition: I did a bit more editing to the story in mostly correcting the horrendously whacked up chronology. Hopefully I have managed to keep the timeline in order this time instead of the incoherent mess of the first edition. Also added a few sentences and corrected a few slight errors, but nothing really drastic._

_Original characters © Kiyohiko Azuma, 1999  
Original story © Berlioz II, 2008_

* * *

It was the end of the period and Kaorin was beat. She had been studying like mad for the past two years now and it had required quite a lot from her both emotionally and physically. Yet she would not have traded her current position away for any price. Having managed to enroll into the prestigious University of Tokyo to follow her lifelong dream of astronomy, she considered herself extremely lucky to have been able to follow her dreams and actually being able to make something out of herself, and in a profession she had a passion for, something that was not the privilege of many others stuck in dead-end office jobs. But as much as she loved studying her subject, there really was nothing better than to be able to go home and rest after a gruelling day of study. And this was exactly what Kaorin was planning on doing right now as she walked towards the parking lot... or that was the plan apart from one little obstacle that just happened to wander in her path that day.

"HEY! KAORIN! KAORIN, WAIT UP, WILL YA!" screamed a voice from behind.

Kaorin stopped dead on her tracks. _"Oh, no. Not now. Not today. Any day but today..."_ she inwardly groaned.

Tomo.

If there was one person on this planet Kaorin least wanted to see right now, it was Tomo Takino, the self-proclaimed number one of the entire university and sexy vixen beyond comparison, both hopeless daydreams on every single level. _"Ugh... Why did she have to appear right now?"_ Kaorin groaned.

"Hey, Kaorin!" she semi-shouted as she wrapped one arm around Kaorin's shoulders. "How's it hanging?"

"_You're the one whose hanging,"_ she thought morosely before giving a small "Fine" response to the question, _"Though I could be better,"_ she added inwardly.

"Yeah, me too! Man, I can't believe how stiff all the lecturers and teachers and stuff are over here. I mean, just today I was trying to catch some sleep during one lecture and was told off! Can you believe it?" the energetic girl went on, ringing about all the wrongs she had to endure in the hands of all those stiff losers that thought that she wasn't taking things seriously... which only made Kaorin sadly shake her head in as non-committal way as possible.

Indeed, she still could not fathom how Tomo of all people had managed to get into this prestigious university. After all, Tomo was probably the most unmotivated student to have ever graced the Japanese educational system, and the fact that the clear drop-out had not only managed to survive high school but had got accepted into the _Tokyo University_ of all places! In fact, Kaorin had sometimes thought about how such an occurrence could have possibly taken place. She had thought that maybe the university's standards had been lowered, but she severely hoped not as it would have really undermined her own feeling of achievement and sense of accomplishment. Or maybe Tomo had just irritated everybody long enough to be granted access or maybe she had bribed someone, or something like that...

Yomi, Tomo's closest friend since forever, of course had managed to get in with a breeze and Kaorin had had no doubts about her success in doing so, but Tomo still made no sense. In the end, Kaorin had just concluded that maybe it was all due to the remarkably and strangely strong bond the two shared, the cause and effect being that where Yomi went, Tomo would follow as if caught in some sort of a tractor beam. If Yomi got into the university, then nothing would stand in the way of Tomo getting in too. It was like a cosmic rule. Guess the gods laugh sometimes.

"...And I threw a pen at him, and he just flipped out. I mean, really, what was his problem?" Tomo concluded her long tirade on the injustice of university life.

"Maybe that you threw a pen at him," Kaorin calmly stated with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hmmm... Oh yeah! Maybe that was it," Tomo said, flashing a winner smile.

Kaorin just rolled her eyes at this. "So, where's Yomi? I thought you'd go home with her," she asked.

"Oh, I was going to. But I was held back when that lecturer dick yelled at me about respect and seriousness and university and other boring stuff like that and blaa, blaa, blaa... So by the time he was finished, Yomi had already gone. Although she could have waited," Tomo grumbled. "Then I saw you and thought: 'Me and Kaorin haven't seen each other for a while, so I'll just say hi'! So HI!"

"How swell," Kaorin unenthused... not that Tomo would ever pick up on that.

"So where are you going anyway, Kaorin?" Tomo asked totally unfazed.

"Home," came the simple answer.

"Home? Jeez, Kaorin. Can't you be any more boring?" Tomo complained.

"Sorry, but I'm tired and I just want to go to bed," Kaorin answered slightly irritated.

"Man, you really should live a little. I mean, honestly!"

"Yeah, thanks for the advice," Kaorin groaned.

"Hey, you got a car, Kaorin?" Tomo asked with renewed interest.

"Yeah... you don't?"

"Eh... the driving instructor had something against me. He threw me out of the car before the first lesson was even over. Can't for the life of me comprehend why."

"Oh, how sad that is to hear," Kaorin said not a bit sad.

"Ah, where is it then?"

"Just over there..." Kaorin said, feeling slightly glad that she would be getting rid of Tomo in just a short while. Tomo's eyes, by contrast, suddenly started to sparkle with excitement and wonder.

"That's it?" she asked.

Revealing itself amid all the Toyotas and Hondas, sat an onyx black, customised Ford Falcon XB GT "Interceptor", with a slightly raised rear, a special spoiler at the back of the roof, wide, black-rimmed slicks, two sets of four-divided flutes, a specially customised Concorde front end and a monster blower protruding through the hood. It was simply a mean-looking hot rod that begged to be used for brashing up the driver's coolness.

"Oh... my... God!" Tomo articulated. "_That__'__s_ your car, Kaorin?"

"Mmm... yeah. That's it," Kaorin responded, not bothering to note the emphasis in Tomo's words.

Tomo in the mean while was gaping widely at the car. She had absolutely no idea how Kaorin could possibly be driving something this utterly cool. She was boring, quiet and sad... when you're all of that you don't own anything cool. Or at least thus Tomo reasoned.

Kaorin didn't seem to pay any attention to Tomo's expressions as she opened the driver's side door and threw her bag on the back seat. She was just happy that in a little while she could rid herself of the annoying girl and be on her way to a nice shower and soft bed. But Tomo seemed to have a different idea as she skirted around the car with eyes wide and running her hand a little above the car's body almost as if afraid to touch it.

"My God! This is like the hottest car I've ever seen. How the hell can you have a car like this, Kaorin?" Tomo wondered in total awe.

"Oh, a friend of mine moved away from Japan and couldn't take the car with her. So she sold it to me at a very reasonable price as I had just gotten my license and was looking for a car. So, that's really all there is to it," Kaorin explained matter-of-factly, still as disinterested in Tomo.

"Wow. I mean WOW! Kaorin! Your coolness factor just went through the roof! I thought you were cool before but wow!" Tomo enthused.

Kaorin just shot a glare at Tomo, "I thought you just said I was boring."

Tomo just looked at her with innocent eyes, "When did I say that?"

"Two minutes ago," Kaorin said back annoyed.

Tomo looked thoughtful for a while before casually responding, "Oh, yeah. But that was before you had a kick ass car! Really, Kaorin, you should stop living in the past!"

Kaorin honestly didn't know what to say anymore. Instead she just stared at Tomo who flashed a bright million-dollar smile at her.

"Hey! Gimme a ride, will ya!" Tomo suddenly said and, before Kaorin could say anything to counter her, Tomo had jumped on the passenger side seat. Kaorin just sighed, _"Guess I don'__t have a choice...__"_ she thought bitterly.

- O -

Roaring down the road, Kaorin's Interceptor was a real headturner. Even though Kaorin had never really wanted to be the center of attention (apart from her singular desire to be the center of attention of one Sakaki-san back in high school), she did somewhat enjoy the attention driving a cool car brought her. It made her feel special, or at least not a total nobody. Tomo on her side was barely containing herself, pointing to this and that, asking question after question about the car, taunting Kaorin to go a little faster, which Kaorin responded with pushing down the gas a bit. While thus occupied, Kaorin offered that she might as well take Tomo home instead of making her walk or take the bus or something. The suggestion was taken extremely well by the pumped up Tomo, high on the "kick ass" factor.

Heading down for the freeway, Kaorin freely let the car take the faster lane and allowed the 351 Cleveland V8 roar to life in the free'er open spaces. Deciding that she might as well shake Tomo up a bit, Kaorin pumped the gas, flipped on the fifth gear and flipped the Weiand supercharger into action, propelling the car forward at increasingly lofty speeds. Tomo's face just went from giddy to super-awesomeness at the increase of speed, revelling at the feel of being pushed back into her leather seat and the rush it made in her tickled her gut. The ride felt a little like being back riding with her old Yukari-sensei, but only much more controlled and cool. _"I knew that knowing Kaorin would pay off one of these days,"_ she thought.

Swinging away from the freeway and into the suburban areas where Tomo's house was, Tomo couldn't help but pump her fist and whoop, feeling like she had just had the most amazing experience of her life, an experience closely rivalled by rebirth.

- O -

At the same time, climbing off the bus, Yomi made her own quiet way to her own home, happy to have for once being able to enjoy a relaxing trip home instead of being forced to listen to Tomo's constant jabbering and teasing. Walking down the street of the calm residential area, she was only a couple of blocks from her front door when a shining black hot rod came roaring down the road and quickly passed her. To her great surprise the car then slowed down and swung to the front of Tomo's house, which was habitually situated near Yomi's.

Shortly after Tomo clambered out of the car, excited and ecstatic. "That KICKED ASS!" she shouted, making Kaorin a bit self-conscious about the quietness of the rest of the surroundings. "Jeez, I wish I'd have a car like this... and a license... although I wonder whether you actually really need one as long as you just don't get caught..." she mused, causing Kaorin to get the chills if Tomo was actually planning on executing such a plan. While zoning out in thinking of the terrifying results of a licenseless Tomo driving around in a souped-up hot rod, she suddenly heard something very peculiar.

"Ummm... Kaorin?" Tomo asked almost timidly. Tomo was never timid! "Well... I was just thinking... that is... uh... could... could you perhaps... pick me up tomorrow and... you know... we could... go to the university together... please?" she finished, clearly uncomfortable, and was that a blush Kaorin saw?

Finding herself at a loss for words due to Tomo's irrational behaviour, she could only give a faintly cautious "Sure," which earned Tomo to blush even more.

Shuffling her feet a bit, she just said "Well, see you tomorrow, then," and closed the passenger side door. At this Kaorin just backed away from the front of the house and zoomed towards her own home, leaving a beaming Tomo, and a curiously wondering Yomi behind, the latter who then decided to not want to get involved and continued her way to her own home. In the Interceptor, Kaorin was seriously wondering what the heck was the matter with Tomo just now.

- O -

Waking up in the morning, Kaorin fought through her disorientation of her sleep, tried to get adjusted to the sweet morning air that came wafting through her open air intake window.

It was a beautiful day. Blue skies and sunny, warm weather. Not a single dark cloud was out to spoil the day. Indeed a most perfect day... and then it hit her. "I'm picking up Tomo today!"

- O -

Arriving at the university campus, Yomi was quite confused at Tomo's sudden behaviour. She had called early on and said she wouldn't be going the same way with Yomi like she always did. Instead she was apparently going with none other than Kaorin. It was frankly strange. Those two had never really been that close and due to Kaorin's astronomy studies, a lot of her studies took place during the evening and night hours instead of the normal daytime hours Yomi and Tomo usually had their lectures on.

"_I really wonder what is going on with those two,"_ she thought, before turning and seeing Tomo frantically running towards her from the parking area.

"Hey Yomiiii! Wait up!" she yelled.

Waiting for Tomo to catch up to her, Yomi gave a slight grin and asked, "So, enjoy your trip with Kaorin?"

"Yeah! It totally rocked!" she shouted, pumping her fist.

Yomi didn't say anything else, but she was still puzzled. Tomo had never willingly gone to school with anybody else but Yomi, and now she was suddenly going so against her habits by travelling with Kaorin. Also, there was something strange that seemed to glimmer in Tomo's eyes, something Yomi had never seen before. She was still as extrovert as ever, but it was as if there was some kind of a warmer look about her eyes. It was very slight, but Yomi had known Tomo for a very long time and she knew her through and through to know something was different, even if she couldn't quite put her finger on it. _"Could it be... Could she be...?"_ she tried to articulate her thoughts, but couldn't really make them materialise. _"I'__ll have to get to the bottom of this somehow...__"_

- O -

Again Tomo ditched Yomi in favour of getting a ride from Kaorin. Maybe it wouldn't have bothered her that much if the whole affair had been a one shot deal, but when it happened the next day, and the day after that, Yomi started to feel a bang of jealousy running through her, much to her own surprise. She had always thought Tomo as a childish and an annoying presence in her life that she didn't seem to get rid of, but now apparently being abandoned by her best friend, she felt lonely. Yes, Yomi felt like she had just been dumped and, even though she didn't harbour any romantic feelings towards Tomo, she really did feel like that Kaorin-bitch had stolen her friend away from her. Not to mention as Yomi already had her suspicions about Kaorin's sexual preferences, it almost made her want to walk up to Kaorin's house and give her a piece of her mind.

But of course, she couldn't really do that as she wasn't exactly Tomo's guardian or anything, so Yomi grumblingly decided to not get in their way if there indeed was something deeper going on, much as she found the whole concept not making any sense whatsoever. Therefore it was with considerable surprise that on Thursday night Yomi answered the phone only to find Tomo calling her and asking... well, okay more like telling her to ride to the campus with her and Kaorin the next morning.

Yomi didn't quite understand what Tomo was up to now, but she readily accepted the invitation. She thought that maybe this was the opportunity she had been waiting for and maybe she could finally get to the bottom of what was the deal with Tomo and Kaorin.

Standing outside Tomo's house and waiting for Kaorin's arrival, Yomi kept pondering how she should go about this. Maybe she could sneak her suspicions discreetly into some conversation, or maybe drop a few hints that would snare the would-be lovers red handed, or maybe she could just take Kaorin aside for a moment and push her against the wall interrogator style. Well, maybe the latter was a bit extreme, but if it came down to that, she would not feel sorry one bit.

Tomo on the other hand was nervous and uneasy while waiting for Kaorin. She hated this wait that accompanied the time between her waking up and Kaorin's arrival. Even if it had only been going on for a few days, it was enough to make her extremely anxious and jittery. Then the roar of an engine finally came to her ears.

"Yes! There she is," Tomo excitedly exclaimed jumping up and down. Yomi just followed Tomo's excited gaze as Kaorin pulled the black Interceptor in front of her house. A part of Tomo's behaviour suddenly clicked with Yomi while looking at Kaorin's car and even she admitted that the car looked incredibly cool, something Tomo might easily fall for. Yomi wasn't exactly sure if Kaorin had planned from the get go to snare Tomo into her favour this way or whether Tomo's recent love-struck eyes were directly attributable to Kaorin just driving a hot car, but that she would have to find out through other means. Which ever was true, though, it did not make Yomi feel very good, and she just thought that if catching Tomo with a hot car was Kaorin's aim, she would not get away with it.

Kaorin on her part noted Yomi's presence and thought it odd after her not having come along before to have now apparently been invited along... or forced along, she wasn't exactly sure which. But she didn't have very much time to think about it as Tomo jumped forth with her eyes gleaming in the most excited manner and with a wide, warm smile on her face. "Good morning, Kaor_in_!", she shouted. By goodness did Kaorin hate that emphasis she put on the latter part of her "affectionately childish" name she didn't seem to get rid of.

"Morning, Tomo," she was content at answering before adding past Tomo's giddy face, "Morning, Yomi."

Yomi quietly acknowledged the greet, almost coldly in Kaorin's ears, but she let it pass without thinking too much about it, particularly when taking into account Tomo's huge enthusiasm that overrode everything. Yomi quietly settled on the backseat and Tomo as usual, of course, sat on the passenger side.

Starting off to the campus area, Kaorin couldn't help to be struck by just how surreal the trip seemed to be. Tomo was as lovey-duvey as she always seemed to be while riding in the car, while Kaorin swore that Yomi on the backseat was radiating some sort of contrastingly cold air that seemed to attack the back of her head with a malevolent force she didn't quite know what to make of. It was as if her eyes were drilling a hole into her brain that did not exactly make Kaorin all that comfortable. Then again, it could have just been her imagination, but on the other hand she wasn't exactly sure.

Arriving at the university, Kaorin was unusually relieved that the ride was over. The lovelorn gaze of Tomo combined with the cold chill emitted by Yomi were making Kaorin extremely nervous and on edge. Clambering out of the car, being out in the fresh air made Kaorin take a long cleansing breath and feel happy that weird experience was over. She was soon joined by the other two girls and they started their walk out of the parking lot.

Tomo was energetically prancing before the other two, seemingly lost in a world of her own, granting Yomi the perfect chance to covertly interrogate Kaorin.

"So... You and Tomo have been spending a lot of time together recently, haven't you?" she casually began, cutting straight to the chase.

"Huh? Oh... umm... yeah, I guess so. It's just for the rides here and back. That's all..." Kaorin said, trying to shake the previous chills she picked up from Yomi.

"Really? Well, that's awfully nice of you. I mean, considering Tomo's not exactly an easy person the get along with," Yomi continued taunting her in a slightly suggestive manner. "I'm surprised you're not jumping off the walls already."

"Well, I guess I just want to do her a favour," Kaorin responded slightly annoyed. "Besides, how exactly do you say no to Tomo when she latches onto you like that?"

"Well, yeah, I guess there's no way of doing that. Although, I guess she's not that bad once you get used to her," Yomi pushed.

Kaorin didn't say anything back, prompting Yomi to drop a few more hints in the hopes of a nervous confession out of the girl, "It's kind of curious, though... about Tomo I mean. You know, I've known her a long, long time and probably know her better than anybody else, but recently she's been acting a bit... hmmm... different."

"Oh..." Kaorin voiced somewhat puzzled where Yomi was going with this.

"Mmhmm. Yep. She's been behaving almost too cheerful... that is cheerful in a way not meant to be annoying."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. In fact if I didn't know any better, I'd say Tomo was in... _love,__"_ Yomi subtly answered emphasising the word 'love'.

"TOMO!" Kaorin exclaimed.

"Yes?" Tomo questioned back.

"... Never mind."

Silent for a second or two, Tomo just shrugged and said "Okay," continuing walking as if nothing had happened.

Kaorin on the other hand felt as if suddenly everything started to become clear and make sense. She had wondered about Tomo's behaviour for a while now, but she couldn't understand how she had been totally missing the signs and all the obvious signals. Love. It was the most simple answer. How had she not figured it out before. The looks she gave. The gentle touches. The contented sighs. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Tomo was in love.

While thus immersed in her thoughts, Kaorin suddenly felt Yomi's arm drop on her right shoulder. Glancing towards her, Yomi just looked straight ahead and started talking quietly and slightly menacingly, "Kaori, I know Tomo can be extremely annoying most of the time and she often infuriates me to the point I just want to clobber her senseless. But, she is also my oldest friend, and I consider her extremely important to me. If it came down to it, I would not hesitate doing anything for her. And that goes for protecting her from being toyed with. If anybody misused her affections that would cause any hurt to come to her, I would not let that person walk away with it unharmed. And that goes for anybody and everybody." With that said, Yomi turned her gaze down on Kaorin so that light flashed off her glasses, masking her eyes, "Do we understand one another, Aida?"

Kaorin was completely taken aback by the tone in Yomi's voice and general demeanour, not to mention Yomi addressing her as 'Kaori' and 'Aida'. All she could get out was a very slight, "Uh... umm... yes?"

"Good," Yomi was content at replying before she and Tomo broke off to their own direction, leaving Kaorin looking after them. _"Did... Did Yomi just... threaten me?"_ she thought with horror.

- O -

That night Kaorin wasn't able to catch any sleep. Truthfully, she was now really scared for her life. After what Yomi had said, though very indirectly, she had fully comprehended that Yomi was out to get her. The journey back had been the most uncomfortable she had experienced yet. Tomo was seemingly as oblivious in her fantasies as she had been since entering Kaorin's car, while Yomi was silent and imposing in the backseat.

Once they reached Tomo's house, Kaorin was a nervous wreck. That morning she had thought it would be easy to tell Tomo of tomorrow, but now with Yomi's warning, she was scared of what might happen. Tomo scampered out of the car, followed by Yomi. Tomo happily shouted, "Bye then Kaorin! I'll see you next week, ne?"

Swallowing hard, Kaorin stepped out of the car as well and rather pathetically started, "Ummm... about that Tomo... uh..."

Tomo just looked at her on questioningly.

"That is... ummm... I... that is I can't... pick you up... next Monday," she managed to finish.

For a few seconds Tomo stood frozen before getting her vocal chords back, "Eh? You... you can't? But... but... WHY? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, KAORIN? WHY?"

Tomo's reaction was a bit stronger than Kaorin had expected, and when Tomo grabbed the lapels of her coat and started shaking her, she really felt that Tomo was taking this perhaps a little too seriously than she had calculated.

"Ca-ca-cause... I ha-have... ev-ev-ev-eveni-in-ing cl-cl-classe-e-e-s," she managed to blurt out from all the shaking. "S-s-s-s-orry."

Tomo stopped shaking her, but didn't let go, "Well, when are you picking me up again then, huh?" she demanded.

"Ummm... uh... that is... am... well... I don't know?"

Then Tomo did something neither Kaorin nor Yomi were expecting. Her eyes teared up and she started crying. It took both of them completely unawares as Tomo had never, as long as anybody had known her, cried. It had almost seemed like a physical impossibility. Tomo just let go of Kaorin and ran into her house, slamming the door closed behind her.

Kaorin and Yomi stared at Tomo's front door for a while, before Kaorin became fully aware that Yomi was standing right there and had seen the whole episode. _"Oh shit... I'__m a dead girl now... Was a nice enough life, I guess,__"_ she sadly thought to herself. Quietly retreating to her car and getting in, she quickly revved up the engine and speeded away from the scene before Yomi would strangle her right there on the spot.

These thoughts had been keeping her awake for the entire night, and she was only happy that she didn't have to get up early the next day. Not that it brought much solace from being killed at some point in the very near future by a tall, glasses-wearing brunette, but at least it was something.

Feeling that maybe it would help if she'd get a glass of water or sleeping pills or something, she got out of her bed and sneaked downstairs towards the kitchen. Taking a couple of her mother's sleeping pills from her "secret" cabinet, she chucked down a large glass of water before re-filling the glass to take upstairs for the purpose of swallowing the pills.

It was while walking back to the stairs that she suddenly heard a slight sound coming just outside of her house. Thinking it might be a cat or something, she nevertheless decided to go take a peep outside. What she saw, however, was definitely not what she was expecting to see. There, crouched over her car, was a figure dressed in a black outfit.

"_Oh, God. Is that a carjagger or something?"_ she thought with horror while still keeping her eye on the intruder, afraid that maybe whoever that was might decide to do something even worse than just taking the Interceptor, like coming inside the house. But at the same time something about the figure didn't quite seem right to Kaorin. Particularly as the "thief" was not even trying to get inside the car as she supposed car thieves would, instead of just... hugging the car? A bright bulb of realisation then struck Kaorin... one that made her confident enough to confront the person outside.

Quietly opening the front door, the intruder was apparently so involved with the car to not even notice Kaorin. Kaorin heard the figure softly murmuring: "Don't worry... We won't be apart for long. I promise that. I will find a way to free you from that bitch. Even if I have to steal you. And then we can be together. Together for all eternity."

Kaorin heard it all and decided to make her presence known. "Tomo?" she called.

Tomo's head suddenly shot up only to find Kaorin looking down at her in her nightgown. "Tomo, what are you doing?" she asked.

Tomo didn't know what to do. She seemed lost and afraid, her head swirling wildly from side to side, trying to find a way to get away unnoticed. When Kaorin started approaching her, Tomo just backed away panicked, turning quickly around and shooting off at full speed into the dark night yelling "It's not who you think it is!".

Kaorin ran to the street, shouting Tomo's name, but Tomo had already disappeared, apparently pushing every single bit of energy out of her to get away from the scene as fast as possible. Kaorin could do nothing more than just watch helplessly down the street. "Oh, Tomo. It's even worse than I thought."

- O -

It had been three days now since Kaorin had seen Tomo last, due to the intervening weekend and her night lecture on Monday, but it had given her enough time to formulate a plan, a plan she hoped would break Tomo out of her obsessive love towards the Interceptor. Calling her on the following Tuesday night, she had luckily managed to catch Tomo home and it hadn't taken much persuasion to ask whether she wanted a ride to the university again on Wednesday morning with Kaorin. Tomo's enthusiasm levels were back at an all time high and Kaorin congratulated herself as she prepared to move to the next part of her plan.

Tomo was again waiting for Kaorin's arrival in front of her house with Yomi, Tomo enthusiastic and Yomi murderous. Yomi had decided that Kaorin would not get away with hurting Tomo like she did last time, but she would just have to find the proper place and time to teach her the lesson she fully deserved.

It was not long before the sound of an engine was heard, but to Tomo's great surprise, it sounded completely different from what she had heard before. Turning the corner at the end of the street, the approaching car made Tomo's eyes widen... not out of excitement, but puzzlement that quickly turned to horror. Buzzing to a stop in front of Tomo's house, Kaorin jumped out of... a 1984 Honda City, a boxy and compact car designed for busy city traffic that was not a high performer, not cool and certainly not sexy in the least. A geeky car.

"Good morning!" Kaorin beamed at the two friends.

Tomo only stared with a completely blank look on her face while Yomi didn't quite know what to say.

"Hey, wake up you two! Are you coming or not?" Kaorin continued as happy as ever.

Yomi quietly pushed Tomo forward and settled her into the car before using the driver's side door to wedge herself into the backseat.

The trip itself was very, very uneventful. Kaorin in fact did much of the talking, "Yeah, this car is so great. I mean, its got a 1.2 litre engine with a turbo and on the best days can get up to even 70 mph on a freeway! And it's so small, yet at the same time so roomy, that it boggles the mind. Not to mention the body is so boxy that it fits almost anywhere. This is quite possibly the most perfect car ever made!"

Tomo didn't say anything. She just stared ahead apathetically, every word coming out of Kaorin hitting her like the thrust of a knife. It was only once they arrived at the university parking lot that Tomo managed to form words again. "Wha... what... what thE HELL HAPPENED? WHERE'S YOUR OLD CAR?"

"Oh, that? Ah, I got rid of it. It wasn't really very economical and it just felt like being a bit of a magnet for carjaggers and stuff like that. It kind of just was a bit too much. This is a much better car," Kaorin happily explained.

"NO IT ISN'T! IT'S DORKY, BORING AND... AND... STUPID," Tomo shouted completely beside herself.

Once the three of them got out and started their way towards the university buildings again, Tomo trudging along ahead in deep depression, Yomi quietly asked Kaorin what exactly she had just done.

"Well, I should have seen it before, but when you mentioned about Tomo possibly being in love... it all just kind of clicked with me," Kaorin began.

"Clicked...?"

"Yeah. All the looks and touches and stuff. I wonder how I didn't see it before, but it was so obvious that Tomo had fallen head over heels in love with my car."

"Your... your car?" Yomi asked incredulously.

"Yeah. You know, I actually caught her fondling it during that night I saw her last. So, the only thing I could figure out to do was getting rid of the Interceptor. I borrowed the Honda from my mom and I just used it to shatter Tomo's dreams. I know, I know... it was perhaps a little harsh of me, but I think sometimes you need a proper jolt to get over obsessions. They're not healthy and they really can eat you alive if you let them. Tomo will probably be hurting for a while, but I don't think her obsession had gotten too severe just yet, so I think she'll be just fine," Kaorin finished her explanation.

Yomi didn't quite know what to say, the whole thing sounding so unreal... even for Tomo. But looking at Tomo's reactions, it was obvious to her that Kaorin was right. Yomi had thought Tomo was feeling attracted to Kaorin, but instead it had been something she couldn't have thought up in a million years. It also made her feel somewhat guilty of thinking bad of Kaorin and even threatening her like she had, something she knew Kaorin had fully picked up on. "Kaorin... I... ummm... I'm sorry," she said.

Kaorin just smiled at her, "Nah, don't worry about it. I totally understand."

"No. I was being totally out of line with you. I shouldn't have talked to you like that or treated you the way I did. It was completely wrong of me. Really, I... I want to make it up to you. You know, some how," Yomi pleaded extremely guilty.

"Yomi, I already told you not to worry about it. I'm perfectly fine and there's no harm done. Let's just put all of that behind us, okay," Kaorin responded.

"Okay. Thanks. I owe you one," Yomi sighed with relief before asking, "So, what did you do with the car, anyway?"

"Oh... I actually still have it," she said very quietly, "but I just have it hidden inside my garage. I can't really take the chance of Tomo seeing it again even if I sold it, so I'll just have to keep it hidden... Kind of a pity though..."

"How so?"

"Well... I actually quite enjoyed that car... and the attention it brought. Made me feel at least a little special and not look like a geek walking. But, then again I consider the health of my friends a lot more important than any of that superficial stuff," Kaorin wistfully answered.

Yomi just slapped her in the back, "Heh, don't worry Kaorin. You know you are special in your own way. You don't need a cool car to tell people that. And the fact that you'd be willing to do something like this for a friend shows you are much more than a shallow shell only interested in appearances. So, you may consider me a friend for the ages. If you ever need something, you can count on me."

Hearing those words made Kaorin feel a whole lot better about herself and it felt good to know there would at least be somebody whom she could consider a real friend. It was more than enough to sacrifice the status of owning a really kick ass cool car. As long as it didn't hurt anybody else, that is.

_

* * *

Ha, bet none of you saw that one coming did you? Or did you? At least, I don__'__t think anybody__'__s written a fic like this in this fandom yet._

_And just if you are curious or didn__'__t catch the detail, yes, I gave Kaorin Mad Max__'__s car, __"__the last of the V8 Interceptors__"__, which is one of the coolest cars I__'__ve ever seen, both in real life and in films. Hopefully the characters weren__'__t too OOC, or at least not OOC without explanation, but I__'__ll let you judge. Maybe it was needlessly clipped at points, but I don__'__t think it turned out too bad. Not to mention, this is my first story that has absolutely no references to music!_

_So leave comments if you want, but hopefully you enjoyed this regardless._


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